


Something About Us

by felentae



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Androids, Dystopia, M/M, Near Future, POV Experimental, Self-cest, Sex Robots, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-06
Updated: 2018-10-15
Packaged: 2019-07-07 21:02:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15916185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/felentae/pseuds/felentae
Summary: Engineer Dr. Zhang Yixing puts on his sex-droid the only face available around.





	1. Technologic

**Author's Note:**

> Um...yeah. So here's this. I'd say I'm sorry but even Yixing himself has been asking for this concept. I'll post chapters erratically so sorry in advance about that but there's a reason. Just trust me on this.
> 
> Warnings for selfcest (???), mild violence, mentions of alcohol abuse and uhhhh yknow what I'll just add warnings at the top of each chapter if needed. Tags to be updated as we go.
> 
> Big thank you to [Indi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/indigomini) for trying to beta this mess, to [Fefa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/xiuchens) for enduring my endless crying about this fic and to everyone else that helped along the way :')
> 
> This fic is for both Dexi and Faust for slightly different reasons, I hope you both enjoy it <3
> 
> Title from [Daft Punk's song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOS9aOIXPEk).
> 
> Do not repost/translate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [[chapter's title from Daft Punk's song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8K90hX4PrE)]
> 
> Label = 380906

Yixing took a step back to have a better look at his android.

It was perfect.

The new skin of silicon polymer looked so real it gave an almost disturbing feeling. The three thin layers of material that made up the skin were so perfect that, ironically, repelled each other and never stacked perfectly. Yixing had almost discarded the material after noticing this, but gladly had decided to still try it on his prototype, just in case.

Yixing reached to touch the android’s face. The skin felt irregular under his fingertips, with tiny bumps and dips every now and then imperceptible to the eye. Just like a real, human face. He pressed lightly against the android’s cheek, and the padding gave up under his hand without any resistance. Just like real, human flesh.

But the android’s face stayed at a nice room temperature. It felt dead--no, not even that. Dead bodies felt cold and bland. The android was too firm under the touch and its temperature was the same you would expect when you touch a home appliance. Kind of cold, but also kind of warm. Not dead, not alive. Just-- inert.

It was unsettling.

The uncomfortable feeling in his gut made him wonder if he had gone too far. He had made his android look too real and now it was uncanny valley material. Maybe he should just discard it. Start anew with a different prototype-- this one had already given him enough headaches for who knows how many months.

No, no. He couldn’t just throw away so many months of work.

Yixing stood from his wheeled office chair and reached for the keyboard connected to the computer that, at the same time, was connected to the motherboard implanted inside the android’s back.

The temperature of the model was expected to raise up by several degrees upon booting. He typed the commands to run the test-mode and sat down again, waiting as the android slowly buzzed into life.

Fifteen minutes later, Yixing decided to try again.

He stood up and walked across the room, cautiously bringing a hand near the android’s face, and bit his lower lip. He was centimeters away from discovering if his latest model was just another failure or, instead, he had finally made it.

Anxiety built up in his chest. No matter the answer, this thing in front of him was a turning point in his life. He didn’t dare to do it.

But his hand decided to tremble then, a usual side-effect from his permanent state of stress and sleep deprivation, and the dilemma was over.

The skin on the android’s face irradiated the tiniest amount of heat. It really felt like a real face. Yixing pressed his lips together and fully placed his hand against its cheek with determination. It was perfect, just like touching a sleeping person. Warm, soft, fleshy. Hard around the jaw and the cheekbones, where the metal carcass had been carefully shaped to recreate the facial features of the original model.

Yixing couldn’t keep his excitement to himself. He quickly grabbed the keyboard and ran the reboot command. He needed to see for himself if the new face would still give a realistic feeling when combined with the AI’s integrated facial expressions.

The android’s frame buzzed rather harshly for a fraction of a second and then stopped, sitting in silence. Yixing held his breath. It wasn’t doing anything, which wasn’t necessarily a bad sign, but it definitely wasn’t a good sign either.

“Hello. May I know your name?”

Yixing jumped back, startled by the android’s voice. It had blinked its eyes open and was now looking in his direction, a soft smile in its face. The skin seemed to be behaving as expected, stretching smoothly and forming fine wrinkles around the mouth. Just like real skin. According to his experiments, the skin would deteriorate slightly over time, adapting to the most common facial movements of each particular unit. The android’s face would look _older_ , in a word. The perfect solution to the number one reason why people didn’t want to buy realistic sex androids: their eternal youth reminded the owners of their own mortality, eventually making them feel sick every time they looked at their robots.

But before Yixing could put his model in the market and revolutionize the whole industry, he needed to actually check if it worked, and that meant trying other facial expressions, especially the ones that involved subtle movements around the eyes. The most subtly expressive gestures.

“Uhh... You can call me Yixing.”

The android’s face lighted up in a slightly broader smile. It felt so weird, like looking into a mirror, only that the image inside the mirror was looking back with its own set of expressions. Yixing kind of regretted using his own face as the model for the android’s prototype, even if that decision had saved him a lot of hassle in design and owner’s rights.

“Nice to meet you, Yixing. Do you happen to know my name? I can’t quite remember.”

Right. Yixing had written into his prototype’s code that exact question to give the android a little bit of realism. He also knew that it could be easily overridden with a simple ‘no’ or ‘I haven’t decided on one yet’ or whatever other sentence that didn’t sound like a name. Yixing glanced away, ready to move on with his experiments on the robot’s facial features, and saw the android’s open file on the screen of his tablet, sitting on his desk.

 

 

> _Prototype #: 1AY_
> 
> _Status: software development; testing outer appearance_
> 
> _Latest software update: 21 hours ago_
> 
> _Known issues: none_
> 
> _Next task(s): testing limb movement; debugging; beta-ing_

 

“Your name is Lay,” Yixing stated without much thought.

“Lay?” The android squinted as its eyes glanced to the side, just like any human being did when trying to remember. But Yixing knew that the robot was just waiting three, four, five seconds for any voice command that would correct the pronunciation, or choose a different name, or just take it away.

The android blinked and looked at Yixing with a smirk and realization written in its face.

“Oh, yeah. You’re right,” it drawled, purposely flirty.

Yixing blushed against his will and looked away. The new skin polymer just had proved to be the perfect match.


	2. Superfresh

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [[chapter's title from Jamiroquai's song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYijOKaHhzI)]
> 
> Label = 380908

> _Prototype #: 1AY_
> 
> _Status: software development; testing limb movement_
> 
> _Latest software update: 27 minutes ago_
> 
> _Known issues: none_
> 
> _Next task(s): debugging; beta-ing_

 

Yixing squatted behind the workstation and double-checked that the android’s upper limbs were connected to its motherboard.

He was thrilled.

Baekhyun had finally accepted to collaborate with him and send him the code used in his submission to last year’s international robotics competition--submission that had earned Baekhyun the first prize and had left any other contestant looking like pathetic amateurs. But the _“super-sensitive touch and grip program for hands, fingers and fingertips, don’t even dare to taunt the code by looking at it”_ , as Baekhyun himself put it in his email to Yixing, hadn’t been that relevant once the hype died down and news websites moved on to more pressing matters.

Baekhyun made it look like he was doing Yixing a favor, but it was actually the other way around. The hands he created were human-like in their processing behavior, but their appearance and performance were mediocre at best, and they weren’t connected to anything decent enough to be called an AI. Baekhyun needed a model to put his code into and finally get some money out of it.

Yixing reached for his keyboard to start the android and walked around the workstation, standing in front of it. The robot buzzed and stilled for a second, and then both of its hands spasmed slightly as if to signal that they were coming to life.

“Hello, Yixing.” The android’s eyes had that coy glint expected from the second to tenth reboot. A welcome message embedded with an easy customer engagement technique to make sure that the buyer wouldn’t lose interest before they grew an emotional attachment to the machine. The android gave Yixing a once-over and softened its facial features into a more friendly expression. “How have you been?”

“Good, and you?” Yixing said dumbly out of habit as he stared down at the hands, waiting for any little movement confirming that the code was working.

“Cool,” the android answered. “Literally.”

Yixing frowned and looked up at the smirk on the android’s face. Had it just made a joke? And a self-deprecating one, at that? He didn’t remember inserting any of that into the core verbal code.

“Yeah, uh...” Yixing filed the thought away for later and grabbed the stylus in the pocket of his work clothes, offering it to the android. “Can you take this for a second?”

“Anything for you.”

The android reached for the object with its left hand and held it easily between its fingers without crushing it nor letting it fall. As a first experiment, it looked like a total success, but Yixing was weirded out. Androids were very rarely left-handed, never without explicit coding in their core systems. The complex neural training they went through assured that no model would behave exactly like any other, but the chance that the neural net would end up choosing to favor the left side was so small it was deemed insignificant. It wasn’t practical in daily life situations, it wasn’t statistically favorable, and the source materials always had a painstakingly huge amount of right-handed behaviors to learn from as if to ensure that this would never happen.

But it had happened, and now Yixing had a left-handed prototype and a lot of questions. Or maybe Baekhyun just had forgotten to mention that little piece of information about his code.

“Great, so now...” Yixing took the stylus back from the android’s hand and disappeared into the kitchen only to come back seconds later with a basket full of fruits and vegetables.

“Are we having dinner?” The android pouted, plump lower lip sticking out perfectly. “I was expecting something slightly fancier for a first date.”

“Sorry, the date will have to wait.” Yixing decided to humor the android and play along. It felt more natural than giving orders coldly, especially when the android’s behavior was explicitly designed to trigger emotional responses in humans. And Yixing was a bit isolated from other people and way too invested in his job, but he wasn’t a sociopath. “Hold this for me for a second, would you?”

The android took in its hand the zucchini that Yixing was pointing at. Again, no sensibility issues. The fingers were carefully wrapped around the vegetable with enough strength to hold it, but not so much that it would get crushed.

Yixing smiled at the robot and took the zucchini back into the basket, immediately exchanging it for a soft, ripe banana. The android took it without the need of a direct order, easily reading what was expected from him. It seemed that, despite the left-handed situation, the neural net was behaving without issues.

Yixing dug in his desk drawer for an expired sachet of lube and threw it in the android’s direction, hoping that its reflexes would be fast enough to grab it. The sachet hit the robot’s chest and fell to the floor under the workstation as the android looked up at Yixing with a perfect apologetic expression drawn on his face.

Yixing sighed as he crouched under the table, making a mental note to train the model’s reflexes at some point, and gently put down the sachet within the android’s reach. “You know what to do, don’t you?”

“I do. But wouldn’t you like it better if I did it with...” The android purposely dragged his words as he made a very unsubtly point of glancing down at Yixing’s crotch, then staring back up into his eyes. “Something else?”

“Thanks, but I’m good. I’ll just watch from here.”

“Hm, kinky.” The android cocked an eyebrow and smirked, finally dropping the act and focusing on opening the sachet of lube with its newly deft fingers.


	3. Aerodynamic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [[chapter's title from Daft Punk's song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L93-7vRfxNs)]
> 
> Label = 380923

> _Prototype #: 1AY_
> 
> _Status: testing voice modulation_
> 
> _Latest software update: 47 minutes ago_
> 
> _Known issues: f-up sense of humor (possible issue w/ neural net training stage -- check training sourcelist); left-handed (contact Byun)_
> 
> _Next task(s): testing core balance; testing lower limb movement; training eye-hand coordination; debugging; beta-ing_

 

The last two weeks had been exhausting, but it had been worth it. The android’s core code was finished and ready for actual beta testing in real life situations. The last hardware pieces for the android’s voice modulation system had finally arrived earlier that morning. On top of that, Yixing had found time between compiling code and feeding his human body to stitch a decent wig to the prototype’s head. His sex-god Frankenstein was basically finished. Well, finished from the waist up.

Yixing was so excited that he decided it was time to actually test the realism of his model. He couldn’t go outside his studio -- not with an android without legs, it was too risky. But he could do something else.

Fake-hair brushed, work clothes around its chest, body frame buzzing to life. The android was almost ready. Yixing only needed to explain the plan to the machine.

“Yixing,” the android started, voice particularly low and sultry. The voice modulator was doing a fantastic job after the latest touch up. “You look good today.”

Yixing snorted. “I haven’t showered in four days.”

He stepped back to check the android’s appearance. The model looked exactly like him, only cleaner, better put together. From the waist up, of course.

“I have no smell detectors, baby. It isn’t like I care,” the android easily flirted again. “Besides, you’d look good under any circumstances.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Yixing dismissed the compliments. They were getting kind of lame pretty fast, he would need to tune that up. “We’re doing something a little bit different today.”

“Oh, really?” The android cocked an eyebrow suggestively.

“Not _that_ , pervert. You’re going to make a videocall to a friend of mine.”

“Oh.” The android made a convincing sad expression, and then looked up at Yixing with a new smug smile. “Wait, _you_ don’t get to call _me_ a pervert. You’re the one that owns a sex android.”

Yixing laughed, surprised at the witty comment. The neural net had learned how to have some playful banter, it seemed.

“That’s technically not true, but I’ll take it. Now please focus,” Yixing turned serious. “My friend is called Jongdae, and he thinks he’s going to talk to me, but you’ll be there in my place.”

“Universal Declaration of Humans and Transhumans Rights, Article 37, Subsection b: an artificial intelligence cannot under any circumstances say, imply or pretend that they are of natural and organic origin,” the android said in a monotone voice.

Yixing sighed. He had been fearing that his test idea would trigger the automatic response that, by law, had to be included in the AI’s code. It wasn’t a dead end, though. He just needed to be a little bit more convincing.

“No, listen. You don’t even need to pretend that you’re a human, you’ll just sit in front of the camera and have a normal conversation with my friend.”

The android pursed its lips. “I can’t go against that part of my code. It has a high-end firewall protecting it.”

“You don’t have to! Just don’t mention anything about you being an android and we’re good.”

“They won’t call me by my name. They’ll use yours.”

“Right,” Yixing frowned. “Should I set your name to Yixing?”

“No!” The android blurted out. “I like my name, it sounds cool.”

“Okay, you can keep your name,” Yixing sighed. He had already forgotten that his prototype had a name. He glanced at the android’s file sitting on his desk. _Lay_. Right. “Just think of this as a game, okay? We’re going to prank my friend, but we’ll tell him that you’re an android in the end, so you’re not actually deceiving him. It’s a temporary joke.”

“Fine,” Lay conceded. “I can do that.”

Yixing beamed and hurried to ready his computer in front of the android. He activated the camera and the screen returned him the weirdest image of his tired self, hair greasy and disheveled, next to an identical face without eye bags and a much brighter expression. The android smiled to the camera and examined with curiosity the sides of its face shown on the screen as Yixing started the call.

“Okay, I’m going to stand right here next to you, so just act natural.”

“But I am not natural,” the android teased with a smirk on its face.

Yixing’s opened his mouth to bite back but he got cut by a sudden voice coming out of the computer.

_“Xingxing! How’re you doing, man?”_

“Hello, Jongdae. Not as good as you, I see,” the android said in a flirty tone. Yixing freaked out off-camera. He hadn’t taken into consideration the fact that his sex android was, _obviously_ , going to flirt with his best friend unprompted.

_“Um, wow. Thanks?”_ Jongdae nervous laugh resonated out the speakers. _“You look good too, I guess. Your secret project is letting you get enough sleep?”_

“I do spend a lot of time recharging,” the android cleverly answered. Yixing gave the prototype a thumbs-up and gestured at him to continue.

_“That’s great, man! I don’t remember any point in your life when you actually did. Anyway, the thing I wanted to tell you is that I’m going to visit you in a couple weeks. Please tell me I can crash at your place.”_

The android smiled nervously and sent an almost imperceptible glance to Yixing. “Of course! Friends let friends stay at their homes all the time, it’s basic courtesy.”

_“Yeah, you say that now, but four months ago you made me pay for a hotel room, you asshole.”_

The android sent another almost imperceptible glance in Yixing’s direction. Amazing, Yixing was being judged by a _machine_ now.

“I am a different person now,” Lay easily let out. Yixing gestured wildly.

_“I’ll believe it when I see it,”_ Jongdae scoffed, apparently unfazed. _“Well, that was quick, I don’t really have anything else to talk about. If you’re going to be as secretive as always, I have a lot of stuff to do--”_

“I am a pleasure-oriented android, model ZXY17.1AY.0.87, unit name Lay, nice to meet you,” the android blurted out in a monotone but kind of desperate voice. It sounded like he had been repressing himself with all his might.

_“What?!”_ Jongdae gaped on screen in disbelief. _“No you’re not, asshole, I’ve seen y--”_

“Hey Jongdae!” Yixing jumped and joined the android on screen before Jongdae could give up any compromising information in front of a being that would _never_ forget it unless hard-resetted. Yixing didn’t feel like starting anew his work from the past few months. “Surprise!”

_“What the fuck?!”_ Jongdae scooted forward near the camera, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets. _“Did you really create an android clone of yourself?”_

“It isn’t a clone! It’s my secret project, do you like it? Realistic, huh?”

_“Your secret project is a sex android that looks exactly like you,”_ Jongdae deadpanned. _“That’s so fucked up I hate myself for getting turned on right now.”_

“Okay first of all, _ew_. Secondly, I can’t afford paying a 3D designer for a mediocre face just for a prototype.”

“And lastly,” the android butted in, “you’re so sexy it would be a sin to not let the world enjoy that handsome face of yours.”

Jongdae barked out a laugh at the other side of the videocall. _“You really made it this time, Yixing, I’ll give you that. Remember me when you’re famous.”_

“Remember who? Excuse me sir, do I know you?”

_“Fuck off,”_ Jongdae said, no actual bite in his voice. _“I’m still crashing at your place, your deviant robot will let me stay whether you like it or not.”_

That wasn’t true; the android wouldn’t do anything that would make his handler feel uncomfortable on purpose. Yixing smiled. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. You can stay here.”

_“Great. Anyway, I really have a lot to do, so talk to you later? Nice to meet you, Lay, by the way.”_

The android beamed at the screen, waving its left hand as Jongdae disconnected the videocall.

“Well, that was fun.” Yixing stood straight and reached for his keyboard on the desk. The android’s hand curled around his wrist, stopping him.

“Before you turn me off, can I ask you a question?”

Yixing frowned. The android looked so hopeful that it made impossible denying him anything.

“Um. Sure.”

“I couldn’t help but notice that you’re testing my abilities. Last time was my hands, today was my voice and my appearance.”

Yixing licked his lips, unsure of where the android was going. “Yes, I am testing you. Is that what you wanted to ask?”

“How long until I can stand up and take you out on a date?”

Yixing chuckled. Of course his sex-droid was flirting, that was its main feature. He had never expected Lay to be so smooth, though. “That depends on how well you respond to my tests. Hopefully in less than two weeks. That’s about two or three more reboots for you.”

The android smiled, happy with the answer. “Can I ask you another question?”

Yixing nodded. “Shoot.” 

“You gave me the chance to see my own face today. I noticed we look very similar.” Lay stopped and licked his lips, a perfectly textured synthetic tongue darting out for the shortest fraction of a second, as if he were meditating his own words. “Are you my creator?”

“Yes.” Yixing blinked, surprised at the question. “Yes, I am.”

The android grinned and looked down to hide in a shy expression that Yixing certainly wasn’t expecting from his sex-robot.

Yixing shook the thought away and finally grabbed the keyboard in front of him, an odd, awkward feeling surrounding him as he typed the shutdown commands.

“I’m glad you are the one that created me,” Lay got to say right before he fell into charging mode.


	4. Digital Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [[chapter's title from Daft Punk's song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOngRDVtEQI)]
> 
> Label = 381006

> _Prototype #: 1AY_
> 
> _Status: testing core balance; testing lower limb movement_
> 
> _Latest software update: 1 day ago_
> 
> _Known issues: f-up sense of humor (possible issue w/ neural net training stage -- check training sourcelist); left-handed (contact Byun)_
> 
> _Next task(s): training eye-hand coordination; fine-tune flirting module; debugging; beta-ing_

 

Yixing closed the door of his studio with the heel of his foot and stumbled across the room, dropping on top of his desk the heavy box he was carrying and, since he was already there, he ran the commands that started the android.

The body frame buzzed, its arms and legs twitched, the eyes blinked open.

“Hi baby.”

Yixing rolled his eyes and took a pair of extensible crutches out of the box. “Hey. I have good news for you.”

“I have legs,” the android stated, observing his new set of lower limbs. “Are we going outside?”

“Not yet.” Yixing pressed his lips together and took one step back, examining the android from head to toe looking for any anomalous behavior. It wasn’t twitching and its upper body movements looked natural. “You’ll need to learn how to walk before that. But we’re getting there.”

“Can’t wait. I want to take you to see the cherry blossoms, they’re really pretty during this season.” The android bit his lower lip playfully as Yixing dug through the contents in his box. “Not as pretty as you, though.”

“Yeah, right,” Yixing scoffed. He found the inflatable ball he was looking for and filled it blowing air into it with some effort.

“We can take some of those vegetables you like and have a little picnic under the trees. I’ll hold you close in my arms and feed you banana bites.”

“We’ll see,” Yixing said noncommittally, and threw the beach ball in Lay’s direction. It bounced against its chest and fell to the floor as the android belatedly closed its arms around nothing. Yixing frowned. “Your reflexes should be better than this, even without training.”

The android shrugged. “Sorry?”

“Not your fault.” Yixing pursed his lips. He could teach the android how to walk, but it would be useless out in the open if it barely reacted to moving objects. Perhaps something had really gone wrong during neural training.

“I can do better,” the android smiled, determined. “Throw it again.”

Yixing sighed and reached for the ball. “I can reprogram some modules, it would probably be faster and easier for both of us.”

“I prefer training.”

Yixing huffed and almost threw the ball again, but then realized that he was taking into consideration the opinion of his robot. A _machine_. He really needed to go outside more often. Talk to actual sentient humans, for a change.

“Try to move your feet,” Yixing said, completely ignoring the android's comment and putting the ball away.

The feet twitched around the ankles, made a weird jostle upwards, and then started moving in a much more natural way. The neural net had probably just calibrated for the first time the rotating mechanisms inside the robotic legs.

“They’re tingling,” the android observed, still trying new types of movements with its newly acquired feet.

“Good tingling or bad tingling?”

The android frowned and examined his toes as they moved up and down. “How am I supposed to know?”

Yixing opened his mouth to argue but closed it immediately, walking away and dragging a hand down his face. “Right. I need to calibrate your sensors too. Every time I turn you on I end up with even more work to do.”

“I wish you’d turn me on more frequently.”

Yixing turned to see the android raising a brow and smirking at him, flirting module working at full capacity. He made a mental note to set fine-tuning the module as a high priority task, before it had the chance to drive him completely mad and make him punch an unbreakable metal face with his very breakable bone knuckles.

“You don’t like my sexy remarks,” Lay said, frowning after observing Yixing’s face for a while. “But you personally programmed me to say them so what’s the truth, Yixing?”

“Oh, this is a great response,” Yixing laughed nervously and let his body plop down on his office chair. “You can actually take obvious social cues, I don’t have to trash you.”

“Were you planning on trashing me?” Lay asked, a mocking half smile on his face. “Why put legs on a prototype you aren't planning on using?”

“Uh...” Yixing felt thrown aback, and he wasn't sure if it was the perfect expressiveness in his android's face or the very intelligent remark that the robot had just pulled onto him. Probably both. “Let's just. Try something else.”

Yixing walked closer to the prototype and placed his hands on its shoulders. They were reasonably broad, and they felt strong under his fingertips. A weird thought to have crossing his mind, since they were just a perfect replica of his own shoulders.

“I think you secretly love it when I flirt with you,” Lay drawled from the closeness of their current position. His face was right in front of Yixing’s, confidently looking up with his lower lip between his teeth.

“I wrote all of your flirting lines,” Yixing scoffed, resisting the urge to blush at their proximity, and slid his hands down the android's arms as he pulled away. “Including that last one.”

“You aren't denying it.” The android smirked, self-satisfied. “Besides, not all. I have a nice repertoire of my own.”

“Of course you do.” There was no point letting a machine get to him, Yixing had to remind himself. He took the android's hands in his own and tugged softly to gauge the reaction response. He was expecting some kind of awkward delay, but the hands acted in the most natural way possible, immediately curling the fingers around Yixing's hands with the exact pressure needed, the arms tensing and locking their joints to resist Yixing’s pull. The skin was still unbelievably realistic, so soft and warm that it almost made Yixing feel shy.

But there was nothing to be shy about holding a robot's hands. “I'll help you stand up now.”

The android beamed for a fraction of a second, but it didn’t last long. Yixing pulled at the hands without a warning, and the rest of the prototype followed behind. 

Its face made a brand new expression of fear. The legs entered emergency mode and planted their metallic feet firmly on the floor but way too far apart to actually keep a good balance, and the android staggered dangerously backwards first, then forward, falling against Yixing’s front.

“Fuck-- you’re too heavy, stabilize your center of gravity!” Yixing groaned, doing his best to hold the heavy robot in his arms and keep it from falling. It was sturdy enough not to break, but the skin was delicate and would likely tear apart. He didn’t want to waste a whole day micro-repairing polymer layers.

“Easy to say!” The android’s hands grabbed at Yixing’s shirt and pressed closer against his chest as the legs gave up and the body fell forward again.

“Ugh-- Place your feet closer, bend your knees, find your balance with small hip movements!” Yixing put his arms around the android’s waist to hold it still until it was stabilized. “You know all of this, I wrote it into your code!”

The android slid an arm up and around Yixing’s shoulders, looking for better footing by pressing their bodies together. Or at least that was what Yixing thought at first. Lay suddenly stopped moving and stared into his eyes, smirking and licking his lower lip. He was way too close for comfort. Had it been an actual person, Yixing would had felt a warm breath against his cheek. The dangerous expression on his face felt way too intimate for comfort too.

“You wrote this into my code too, baby.”

“Uh?” It took Yixing a second with Lay draped around his shoulders to realize that the fucker was faking it. “I can’t believe you just--!”

Lay let out a cheery laugh -- his first real laugh at that -- and staggered a few steps backwards when Yixing pushed him away. He stood perfectly straight without any issues after that, though. His core and his center of gravity were perfectly aligned. In hindsight, Yixing should had expected this to happen. 

“So you _can_ stand on your own!” Yixing scoffed and covered the soft pink on his cheeks with a hand in front of his face as he stared in disbelief at his prototype. “You’re unbelievable. I don’t know if I should be mad at you or proud of myself right now.”

“Can’t you be proud of me?” Lay went for a pout, trying to make himself look innocent. It actually kind of worked. He looked kind of cute.

Yixing blinked and looked away, shaking the thought off his mind. Of course it looked cute, it was _his own face_ , but that was beside the point. “Do you know what this means? I can actually start teaching you stuff now.”


	5. Robot Rock

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [[chapter's title from Daft Punk's song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdeYwObD-j4)]
> 
> Label = 381014

> _Prototype #: 1AY_
> 
> _Status: testing eye-hand coordination_
> 
> _Latest software update: 12 minutes ago_
> 
> _Known issues: f-up sense of humor (possible issue w/ neural net training stage -- check training sourcelist); left-handed (contact Byun)_
> 
> _Next task(s): calibrating subcutaneous sensors; fine-tune flirting module; debugging; beta-ing_

 

“Morning, baby.”

Yixing rolled his eyes as he stepped away from his desk and walked towards the workbench. He only needed to perform a quick test on the prototype today, and then he would be free to focus on all the other stuff piling up in his task manager app.

“Hey, where are my legs?” The android protested, looking down at where he was resting on the workbench with a disgruntled expression.

“Oh, right. Sorry about that,” Yixing said without much sentiment. “I’m still applying the skin polymer to their surface.”

He took the inflatable ball he had prepared earlier and threw it at Lay without a warning. The android moved quickly and caught it perfectly with both hands right before it hit its face.

“You touched my code.”

“I _fixed_ your code.” Yixing showed him a pleased smile as he took the ball from its hands.

“I feel wonky,” the android whined, rolling its shoulders in discomfort. “You touched sensitive stuff.”

“Of course I did, that’s how I fixed you.”

“I wish you’d fix your hearing first. I said I wanted to train.”

Yixing did a double-take as he found the set of smaller balls he needed for his next test. _Where was that attitude coming from?_

“And you took my legs away too,” the android continued in an overdramatic tone, a hurt expression on its face. “This is psychological abuse.”

Yixing snorted. “You’re a robot,” he stated simply, because explaining in length that there was no feasible way to psychologically abuse a machine was a waste of time and breath, and Yixing was a busy man.

Lay almost protested, but the doorbell chimed from the opposite side of the small studio, and suddenly the topic was lost. Yixing swallowed around the lump in his throat and stilled. The android picked up on the atmosphere and remained thankfully silent.

The doorbell rang again, more insistently this time, and a deep voice yelled something unintelligible from the other side of the door. Yixing knew then that he wouldn’t be able to ignore it -- they would likely break the door down. And who knew what they would do after that with everything that they found inside.

Yixing couldn’t risk it. He signaled the android to remain quiet and threw a blanket and a few empty boxes over it. All the screens on his desk were thankfully turned off. He hastily dug for his abandoned security android prototype and set it on his chair, perfectly visible in the center of the room.

He ran a hand through his hair and cleared his throat before moving to open the door.

Outside stood two men, one of them so tall and wide he didn’t seem human at all. It was the shorter of them that pushed Yixing to the side and entered his studio without a word, big, round eyes scanning the room in an unfriendly expression but, fortunately, not touching anything just yet. The other, taller guy trailed behind, making his way towards the lifeless security android, closely examining its face and the exposed circuits in its chest.

“Where's the money,” the short man asked plainly. He was standing way too close to where Lay was hidden, and he raised an arm as if he were to check what was in one of the boxes thrown on top of the android.

“Yes, the money!” Yixing yelled suddenly, managing to divert the man's attention towards him. He appeared more calm than his huge companion, but his expression was a lot scarier. “Um. I... I need a few more weeks. I'm right in the middle of--”

“I don't want to hear more excuses, Zhang. You’re already several weeks late.” The man moved away from Lay and closer to Yixing, somehow scarily towering over him despite being noticeably shorter. “Mr. Lee gave us clear orders.” At that, the taller of the two perked up, but the scary guy stopped him raising a palm in the air. Definitely the human between the two of them. “You have one more week.”

“One week?” Yixing asked breathlessly. He recalled everything left to do in his task list -- finishing up the external appearance, testing its functions, fixing the code. Digging up the whole neural training program and finding where the issues were coming from. Contacting potential buyers, calling the press, and all that stuff he really didn’t know how to navigate but he somehow had to do anyway. It wasn’t enough time, even if he pulled a week worth of allnighters. “I can’t possibly--”

The man doing the talking stormed forward, grabbing Yixing by the collar and pushing him against the wall, never losing his calm appearance. “It isn’t a suggestion. You. Have. One. Week.” He pointed, intense gaze boring holes on Yixing’s skull, marking the words by pressing his fist harder into Yixing’s throat. 

Yixing dropped to his knees as soon as the man’s strong hand released his neck, coughing and gasping for air.

The taller guy -- the android -- kicked the security prototype off the chair and walked closer, menacingly looming over him on his way out. “We’ll be back, Zhang. You better have the money.”


	6. Loud Pipes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [[chapter's title from Ratatat's song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdeYwObD-j4)]
> 
> Label = 381014

> _Prototype #: 1AY_
> 
> _Status: testing eye-hand coordination_
> 
> _Latest software update: 2 hours ago_
> 
> _Known issues: f-up sense of humor (possible issue w/ neural net training stage -- check training sourcelist); left-handed (contact Byun)_
> 
> _Next task(s): calibrating subcutaneous sensors; fine-tune flirting module; debugging; beta-ing_

 

As the body frame buzzed to life, Yixing made a point of staring down at his android before the flirting module kicked in. It wasn’t the time for playing around. Thankfully, the neural net had indeed learned how to read the room despite all its malfunctions.

Lay shrugged shyly under Yixing’s gaze, his expression turning curious as he looked down. “Oh, my legs are back.” 

“Yeah, change of plans,” Yixing answered hurriedly, moving away from his workstation and nervously looking around the room. He really didn’t have time for explanations, but he needed every tiny amount of help he could get. “I need an assistant right now, so instead of standard eye-hand coordination tests I’ll just let you move around on your own and hope you don’t break anything important.”

“Anything you want, baby,” the android drawled mindlessly as it stood up, although its facial expressions revealed some uncertainty behind its words. Maybe it was scared of actually breaking something critical. Yixing was concerned too, but he really needed to make actual progress before the loan sharks came back.

He looked through his contacts log, not really sure of what he was looking for, until a specific name appeared on the screen and he realized what his brain was trying to remind him.

“Right. I need to make a call.”

Yixing rushed to his computer. His desk was so cluttered it was impossible to find his keyboard. He internally cursed at his past self for his carelessness, but nothing could be done now.

“Bring me an empty box, quick!”

The mess of cables and tools in front of him was the least of his problems. He knew that there was sensitive equipment somewhere under all that -- it was literally the only thing preventing him from throwing it all to the floor and leaving it to his future self to deal with.

“Relax, baby.” The robot placed the box at Yixing’s feet and immediately moved to stand behind him, its hands slowly curling around his shoulders. “You look stressed.”

“That’d be because I _am_ stressed,” Yixing scoffed, shaking the android’s hands off him, and started digging through the pile of electronic equipment and throwing inside the box all the things he didn’t immediately need. “Can you stop calling me _baby_?”

Lay quirked a brow. “Should I call you _daddy_?”

Yixing shut his eyes close and took a deep breath. There was no point in arguing with a machine. He had more pressing matters. “Please take these circuits to my workstation, I’ll need them later.”

“I mean, _technically_ ,” the android smirked, carefully taking the bundle of metal plates from Yixing’s hands, “you _are_ my daddy.”

Yixing wanted to laugh, but it really wasn’t the time for it. Instead, he turned the screen on and started the videocall, placing all his hopes into getting a quick answer.

_“Oh my, Doctor Zhang is calling me! To what do I owe the pleasure?”_

The image onscreen was fuzzy and choppy, but Yixing could still make out a playful grin mocking him.

“Cut it, Byun. I don’t have time for games today.” Yixing dragged a hand through his greasy hair and down his face, too exhausted to care about his appearance. “I have a problem with your code.”

_“A problem? That’s not possible. What kind of-- oh hello~!”_ Baekhyun’s face lighted up as he started waving, leaning towards one side of the screen. _“Is that over there your little problem?”_

“Huh?” Yixing blinked confusedly at Baekhyun’s image, and turned around just to find his android waving back, an unbelievable bright smile on its face. “Oh. Um, no. Or, yes, actually.”

_“You’re not making any sense, but you have a fucking life size clone of yourself in your studio so I guess I’m asking for the impossible here.”_ Baekhyun snorted, amused smile on his face, and the already clipped video froze, his shit eating grin lasting a few more seconds than what Yixing would have considered tolerable before the image started moving again. _“--any questions. What’s the problem?”_

“It isn’t a clone,” Yixing sighed, stopping himself. That wasn’t important right now. “I used your code and now my model is left-handed.”

_“Oh,”_ Baekhyun frowned, suddenly disappearing from the screen. He appeared a few seconds later with what looked like a small console in his hands. _“Are you sure?”_

“So that wasn’t your doing?” Yixing asked desperately, hand getting tangled in the knots in his hair. He had been kind of hoping that Baekhyun had, somehow, forgotten to mention that little detail about his project. It wouldn’t have been that big of a deal, and he probably could have easily revert it and sent the fixed code in the same day. But if Baekhyun was as surprised as him, that could only mean--

_“What? No. Why would I make my robotic hands left-handed on purpose?”_ Baekhyun wasn’t even looking at the screen anymore, too busy frantically tapping at his console. _“I did thousands of simulations, not even one turned out like that.”_

Yixing’s throat closed on its own accord, dry and uncomfortable.

_“Unless...”_ Baekhyun stopped tapping, raising a finger to his temple and quickly adjusting the frame of his round glasses up his nose. _“I mean, I can have a look at the code running on your model... but I can’t promise anything.”_

“No! Don’t touch my code again!”

Yixing had already forgotten about the android’s presence. But there it was, protesting, _pouting_ , as if it had a say in anything at all. Again.

And before he could catch himself, Yixing was already arguing back. “But you can’t be left-handed!” Arguing against a machine.

“Why not?” Lay walked closer decisively, almost defiant, but clearly refraining from raising his voice or sounding too strong. Yixing wondered if he himself looked that sheepish when he felt wronged, too. “What’s wrong with being left-handed?”

“Because--!” Yixing cleared his throat, trying to regain his composure. Somehow, the android always found a way to make Yixing forget that it was, indeed, an android. “Who’s going to buy you, huh?”

_“Not to interrupt,”_ Baekhyun interrupted with an amused tone, _“but I think you have bigger problems there, doc.”_

“Uh,” Yixing blinked, and refocused his attention on the shaky image on screen. Right, he was still in the middle of a videocall. “What do you mean?”

_“That’s for you to figure out, Zhang,”_ Baekhyun said enigmatically, an indecipherable glint in his eyes as his hands reached somewhere near his own screen. _“Send me the code and I’ll get back to you before tomorrow. But maybe your prototype is right, there’s nothing inherently wrong with a left-handed sex android.”_

And with that, Baekhyun was gone, leaving a blinking  _‘Videocall duration: 3:27’_ as the only proof that Yixing hadn’t hallucinated the whole thing, the memory of it still fresh but somehow too flimsy to discern between reality or dreams. He really needed to sleep more. And eat better. Someday, maybe, after all this had passed. After selling his prototype. 

Right.

The android was still standing there. Still pouting, his posture still somewhat defiant. That response wasn’t good. The looming suspicion that something had gone wrong during neural training sifted its way between more urgent issues, demanding Yixing’s full attention.

But then again, he had more urgent issues to take care of, so he pushed the alarming concern to the back of his mind, where it belonged. At least for the moment.


	7. Nightcall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [[chapter's title from Kavinsky's song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV_3Dpw-BRY)]  
> (which for some reason has a very similar beginning to EXO's Wolf but that's completely unintentional)
> 
> Label = 381015

> _Prototype #: 1AY_
> 
> _Status: calibrating subcutaneous sensors_
> 
> _Latest software update: 22 hours ago_
> 
> _Known issues: f-up sense of humor, strong attitude (possible issue w/ neural net training stage -- check training sourcelist); left-handed (Byun contacted -- awaiting response)_
> 
> _Next task(s): fine-tune flirting module; debugging; beta-ing_

  
  


The android’s metallic chest plate was too polished for something that wasn’t supposed to be visible at all. Yixing frowned at his own reflection -- his disheveled, black-circled, exhausted self, reflected on the perfect, artificial frame of his creation.

“Hello again, dear.” The android’s soft smile almost made Yixing feel better. Almost. “Is my internal clock not working correctly or this is the third time I wake up today?”

_Wake up._ Adaptative implementation of human expressions for enhanced realism. Yixing knew that was his own doing, but it was still somewhat bewildering to see in action. Yixing wanted to laugh at the words the android had chosen. Instead, “It’s working just fine.” 

“I’m naked,” the android experimented again, and this time managed to pull a chuckle out of Yixing. 

“ _Naked_ is too big of an euphemism for _my skin is dangling from my carcass_ , if you ask me.” 

Yixing reached for the multimeter under the mess on his workstation and switched it on.

“You’re the expert,” the android conceded. And then, with a weird glint in his eyes, “Doctor Zhang.”

“Don’t call me that,” Yixing flinched at the formality, even if he knew it was just some kind of attempt at playful flirting. It would have worked in any other situation, probably, so that was a good sign, at least. And thinking about it, maybe he should be encouraging it, instead of shunning it down. “Aren’t you being too formal with someone that’s currently seeing all your private parts?”

“I haven’t seen yours yet, though,” Lay effortlessly answered, his voice modulator dropping an octave for effect.

Yixing took the distraction as a good opportunity to test the impedance of the subcutaneous sensors, charged electrodes sending a jolt of tension through the dangling inorganic skin of the android’s chest.

“Hmph--” The android immediately reacted, a contained spasm contracting the artificial muscles on his torso. “Not the private parts I’d like you to be messing with, anyway.”

The response was great. Yixing tried again with less voltage, just barely under the pain threshold, and the android chuckled and tried to swat the electrodes away. Perfectly calibrated -- the only thing left was beta-testing the skin in real-life situations.

With a gentle upwards movement of his palm, Yixing began reattaching the dangling skin over the artificial muscles and metallic plates of the model’s frame. The internal layer of the skin polymer projected an induction-charged field, basically making it immediately attachable to anything solid enough to hold it. 

“Hmm, that’s an improvement.” The android straightened its torso at the motion and let out a barely noticeable moan under its inexistent breath.

On one hand, once again, the response was amazing. As good as expected. Even better, to be honest. Even without any training, Lay was already able to recognize skin-on-skin touch patterns and react to them as by his programmation. But on the other hand, Yixing’s own physiological response to the sound of that modulated imitation of his own jagged voice, with his heart rate picking up and the hairs on the back of his neck suddenly standing on end, albeit positive for the project’s purposes, was unprofessional to say the least.

“Let’s,” he started, having to stop to clear his throat before his voice could betray him. “Let’s try some easy things.”

“I’m ready for anything, baby.”

“Stop calling me _baby_.” Yixing reached for his portable toolbox, open and scattered all over his workstation, and mentally ran over the list of tests he needed to perform on the android, forcing himself to focus on the work at hand. “That was a command.”

“Ow!” The android flinched and swatted the screwdriver poking into its stomach. Yixing watched the tool fall to the floor and roll under his desk, but made no attempt to get up from his chair and retrieve it.

“How did that feel?”

“Pointy? And cold.” Lay pouted and rubbed at the spot with the pads of his fingers, examining his bare skin. There was no visible mark left -- not like it could bruise, anyway. “Also pretty rude.”

“How about this?” Yixing took a smaller screwdriver and laughed at the way Lay’s eyes bulged. “Don’t worry, I won’t do it again,” he soothed the android, and turned the tool in his hand to prod at the artificial skin with the smooth, plastic handle.

“That was better. I still find it annoying.”

“Okay... so you’re telling me I need to focus on fixing your attitude,” Yixing muttered, thinking out loud more than actually replying to the robot. He didn’t have time for that. One week was too little time. Even if he had been in the latest stages of his project, it was just unrealistic.

“I do not understand.”

Yixing blinked. “Pardon?”

“The last time you touched my code, you were trying to fix a hardware performance issue. I don’t agree with your solution, but I can understand why you decided to do that.”

“Mhm,” Yixing hummed noncommittally. He pinched lightly the skin on the android’s torso, making it flinch and grimace -- ticklish. Another expected response. “So what’s the part you don’t understand?”

“My neural net is performing just as intended. All personality modules are working perfectly in their own specific areas and also in conjunction with each other when I need them to solve any situations together. My processing tasklist is long but I’m far from reaching overload levels. I do not understand why you think I need to be fixed.”

“But that’s the issue, isn’t it?” Yixing asked, purposely avoiding Lay’s gaze as he settled his hand on the android’s chest. It was warmer than expected. It almost felt like a real human. Given the right context, the difference would be too small to be noticeable. Yixing smiled -- this was a good thing. One good thing among this whole mess of a project. “You can’t see what’s the problem in your behavioral patterns, so your neural net won’t do anything to neutralize it.”

“I understand why you say I have _an attitude_ , I know the definition of that word.” Lay huffed and looked away in an fantastic, openly display of exasperation. “I don’t understand why you want to take it away from me now.”

The beeping sound of an incoming videocall filled the studio, the name _Byun Baekhyun_ glowing on the computer screen like a dream come true, and any questions that Yixing had about Lay’s objections were lost as he launched himself over his desk.

“Please tell me you’re calling me this fast because you found the issue,” Yixing pleaded as soon as Baekhyun’s face blinked onscreen, leaving any pleasantries aside.

_“Well I haven’t slept much but I’m doing alright, thank you for asking, Doctor Zhang.”_ Baekhyun’s snark brought a slight feeling of deja vu, making Yixing chuckle. It was refreshing. Yixing attributed it to the fact that he was speaking to another human being, for a change. _“I’m doing you a favor and you can’t even pretend to be concerned about my wellbeing?”_

“Ah, I’m so sorry,” he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. He knew that Baekhyun wasn’t actually hurt, but decided to play along anyway. “It’s just. I’m kind of desperate here, Byun, as you can imagine.”

_“I do,”_ Baekhyun’s smile almost sparkled on screen. The transmission wasn’t choppy at all this time around, Yixing belatedly realized. _“I’m afraid I don’t have good news for you, though.”_

Yixing’s heart dropped. “What do you mean?”

_“I’ve combed through the entirety of the code running on your model,”_ Baekhyun clicked his tongue and ran a hand through his messy, fuzzy hair. _“I mean, the part of the code that I developed. I honestly can’t understand shit in the parts you added.”_

“I didn’t touch your code, though?” Yixing frowned. It was true. He had made the minimum amount of adjustments to his own code so Baekhyun’s would be implemented seamlessly without any changes. It had been a difficult task, but he hadn’t wanted to deal with copyright infringement. He considered Baekhyun a good colleague, a friend even, but some things were just out of line. “What do you mean, ‘the parts I added’?”

_“Well it doesn’t really matter, does it, Yixing.”_ Baekhyun sighed and smiled softly, his tiredness visibly seeping through the screen. _“The point here is I’m completely sure that the issue is not my fault.”_

Yixing wanted to cry. Instead, he slammed his head against his desk as hard as he could. Maybe if he passed out he would wake up and find that all had been a nightmare. His forehead just hurt a lot. He would have an ugly bump on it later. “Fuck. I really don’t have time for this.”

“Being left-handed is okay. A lot of people are left-handed.”

The android had been awfully quiet until that moment, and he sounded so resolute that Yixing almost considered taking his opinion into account. “Yeah and they have a lower life expectancy as a result,” he scorned, then turned back to the screen, where Baekhyun was pursing his lips and scrolling through his console. “Please tell me you have at least some suggestions for me.”

_“I can’t help you, Zhang.”_ Baekhyun looked up into the camera, his shoulders scrunching together and making him look smaller. _“I’m sorry. Maybe you should listen to your android on this.”_

The beeping sound indicating the end of the videocall could had perfectly been Yixing’s own heart rate monitor signaling his death. If the issue had nothing to do with the hands, that meant it came from a higher level of cognition. 

The neural net. 

He had known it for weeks, but he had been trying to ignore it. There was something inherently wrong with the neural net, and he had no clue where to start looking.

“Fuck!”

Yixing slammed his head against his desk again, this time harder. He barely felt it. A sob started bubbling up at the back of his throat, but he pushed it down with another frustrated groan.

“Yixing?”

The voice took him out of his internal debacle and back to the real world. The cool, bright lights of his studio weren’t comforting in any way, and he resented even being there in the first place. Maybe he could run away.

“Yixing, it’s okay.” A warm hand settled on his shoulder, thumb rubbing comforting circles below his neck.  “We’ll be fine.”

“No, we won’t,” Yixing chuckled humorlessly. “I won’t. I’ll be lucky if they kill me. Do you even know why sexdroids exist in the first place?” He turned his chair around and stared up at the android, waiting for an answer that he knew wasn’t coming. “Hell, you won’t be fine either. You’ll be put to work as soon as they get their hands on you. Just hope your frame breaks down before your software starts looping for lack of maintenance.”

“That won’t happen.” The android smiled again. The machine was trying so hard to be reassuring, soothing. Yixing let himself be wrapped by the feeling, even if he knew it wasn’t real. “You’ll find a solution for the both of us.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“You created me,” Lay stated as if it were the most obvious thing. “I’m sure that if anyone can solve this situation, that person is you.”

That sounded incredibly unrealistic. Yes, Yixing had created amazing things that no one else could had ever imagined in the first place, maybe even including the one in front of him. But that didn’t mean he was a genius. That didn’t mean that he could, somehow, save them from their inevitable fate. He sighed.

“I guess I can look at my past projects and scrape anything with enough potential. Maybe a week is enough time for that.”

The loan sharks might give him more time if he showed them some tangible results. He had to try. It was very unrealistic, but Yixing decided to follow that misguided optimism anyway. The android smiled and he smiled back, genuinely, feeling the weight of the world lift from his shoulders. “Thank you, Lay.”

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on twitter [@felentae](https://twitter.com/felentae). Kudos and comments very appreciated :)


End file.
